Athletics - Burkina Faso: Hugues Fabrice Zango immortalized at the National Museum

The National Museum of Burkina Faso hosted a new treasure: the jersey worn by Dr. Hugues Fabrice Zango during his greatest international conquests. In the presence of the Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism, Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouédraogo, and the Minister of Sports, Youth and Employment, Annick Pikbougoum, the triple jumper from Burkina Faso officially donated his champion jersey full of history.

This jersey, which has become his standard-bearer since 2024, accompanied the 2023 world champion in Budapest during his last titles, both indoors and outdoors, until his very last competition at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 19, 2025. It was there, at 32 years old, that he announced his retirement after more than a decade at the top of the discipline.

Motivate young people through his heritage legacy
"It is a great pleasure to be able to enter even more in the history of our country by putting on my jersey," said Hugues Fabrice Zango at the end of the ceremony. 

«This jersey that I wore to win world and African medals, represents efforts, sacrifices, and victories. My gesture aims to inspire the younger ones. I have exploited my talent, but I am convinced that there are even more talented young people. We must fight today to shine tomorrow and make Burkina Faso shine.”

A message of perseverance that particularly resonates in a country where high-level sport remains a powerful vector of unity and national pride. First Burkinabe Olympic medallist, bronze medalist at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, triple African champion, world champion in 2023 and world indoor record holder with 18.07 m, established in 2021, Hugues Fabrice Zango has left his mark on African and global athletics.

Pingdwendé Gilbert Ouédraogo, celebrates the gesture of Zango
The minister in charge of culture hailed a highly symbolic and patrimonial act: "We have the responsibility to preserve, value and transmit to the youth symbols of success and courage. This jersey becomes a vector of memory and inspiration for all generations. Hugues Fabrice Zango embodies excellence, perseverance and self-transcendence.

The  Director General of the National Museum, Sabari Christian Dao, stressed the importance of this donation for museums:

 "This shirt becomes a heritage object in its own right, destined to be preserved, documented and transmitted according to international museum standards."

 He will join the showcase of sports champions, allowing the public to relive the epic of an athlete who has carried the Burkinabe colors on the world stage.

By returning his jersey, Hugues Fabrice Zango does not only close a personal chapter, he opens a new page for the national sports heritage. His legacy reminds us that individual victories can become collective goods, sources of inspiration for future generations. Burkina Faso thus enshrines the legacy of a man who transformed the triple jump into a symbol of Burkinabe dream become reality.